The use of "only" as a conjunction

Question

Hello,When "only" is used as a conjunction, is the clause that it introduces always subordinate (and/or non-restrictive)? For example:"James didn't know a whole lot about the book, only that it looked incredibly long and was very heavy."  I believe that "only" is a subordinate conjunction here as well as non-restrictive, and is therefore set off with a comma. Is this right?But what about this one:"Everything went silent, only the rustling in the trees could be heard." I think that this one may be two independent clauses improperly joined by a comma, correctly requiring a full stop, but I'm not sure. This may seem like an obvious question, but the reason I ask is because I am using the program Grammarly to try and educate myself on the comma splice rule (The rule was never taught to me in my education, and now I'm over-paranoid about using it.) But when I typed in my second example into the program, it didn't flag anything up. I believe this might be incorrect as I am under the impression that "only the rustling in the trees could be heard" is independent, but I could be entirely wrong. Can anyone clarify this for me? Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

I don't think either of your examples uses 'only' as a conjunction.

JJDouglasJames didn't know a whole lot about the book, only that it looked incredibly long and was very heavy.

Here I would call it an adverb. I would use a semi-colon, but others may prefer to allow a comma because the comma splice is not explicit. ... didn't know ... about the book; (he) only (knew) that it looked ....

JJDouglas"Everything went silent, only the rustling in the trees could be heard."

Here I would call it an adjective. (the rustling and nothing else; the rustling alone) In my opinion this is an obvious comma splice. A semi-colon or a new sentence is the usual solution.

There is a less convincing reading of this same sentence in which 'only' is a conjunction. Everything went silent, [but / except / only] the rustling in the trees could be heard. Compare: They did have a radio, only it was broken.
_______

I can't answer your concerns about 'restrictive' and 'non-restrictive' because I've never thought about that with regard to 'only'. 'only' is obviously restrictive semantically, but it just doesn't seem useful to me to discover whether it's restrictive structurally as it doesn't feature in relative clauses, the usual structures that are divided into 'restrictive' and 'non-restrictive'.

CJ

JJDouglas · Answer

Hi CJ,

Thank you for the reply.

Just so I am clear...

The second clause in the first example is adverbial because it modifies the verb "knew", right?

And in the second example, is the second clause an adjective because it modifies the noun "everything"?

And in both cases, all the clauses are independent?

CalifJim · Answer

JJDouglasThe second clause in the first example is adverbial because it modifies the verb "knew", right?

Yes.

JJDouglasAnd in the second example, is the second clause an adjective because it modifies the noun "everything"?

No. "rustling".

JJDouglasAnd in both cases, all the clauses are independent?

Yes.

CJ

JJDouglas · Answer

But "only that it looked really long and heavy" doesn't make sense standing alone as a sentence, does it?

CalifJim · Answer

JJDouglasBut "only that it looked really long and heavy" doesn't make sense standing alone as a sentence, does it?

No. It's status as an independent clause is not explicit. It derives from its context.

CJ

JJDouglas · Answer

OK, so is the subject of the clause "that" or "it",

JJDouglas · Answer

CalifJimNo. It's status as an independent clause is not explicit. It derives from its context.

Also, is it just the word "only" itself that's an adverb, or is the whole phrase of "only that it was incredibly long and really heavy" an adverbial clause? If it is an adverbial clause, then doesn't that mean, by definition, that the clause is dependent? Because I thought that all adverbial clauses were dependent.

CalifJim · Answer

JJDouglasOK, so is the subject of the clause "that" or "it",

The subject is an implicit "he" or "James".

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

JJDouglas CalifJimNo. It's status as an independent clause is not explicit. It derives from its context.Also, is it just the word "only" itself that's an adverb, or is the whole phrase of "only that it was incredibly long and really heavy" an adverbial clause? If it is an adverbial clause, then doesn't that mean, by definition, that the clause is dependent? Because I thought that all adverbial clauses were dependent.

It is just the word "only" that's an adverb. Again, as I said above, the implicit sentence is rendered explicitly as:

James didn't know [a whole lot about the book]; he only knew [that it looked incredibly long and was very heavy].

That's two independent clauses. that introduces the dependent content clause that says what James knew.

CJ

BillJ · Answer

"James didn't know a whole lot about the book, [only that it looked incredibly long and was very heavy.]"

“Only” is not a subordinating conjunction here, but a restrictive focusing adverb modifying the underlined content clause. It’s the presence of the subordinator “that” (not the adverb “only”) which marks the clause as subordinate. The adverb "only" is restrictive in the sense that it is restricting what little James knew about the book to its apparent length and weight.

Although “only” is a restrictive focussing modifier, the clause that contains it may be non-restrictive, as it is in your example. The clause provides additional, non-essential information and is not tightly integrated into the structure of the sentence, but only loosely attached - in this case set apart by a comma, which is fine. It is those features that point to the clause being semantically non-restrictive in much the same way that non-restrictive relative clauses are. Clauses like the one in your example are sometimes referred to as supplementary adjuncts.

"Everything went silent, [only the rustling in the trees could be heard.]"

This one is different. The comma is wrong. The bracketed clause is a main clause that should be preceded by a full stop (period) or a semi-colon.

BillJ

The use of "only" as a conjunction

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